Cheap Snack Attack: Raw Chickpea Cookie Dough

So delicious, cheap, and good for you!

In my previous post, I mentioned my new commitment to riding my bike to work 4 out of 5 days a week. This is better for the environment, and gives my workouts an extra boost! Problem… it gives my metabolism a boost too. Eating well on a budget is tough enough, but adding an extra 800/day caloric load to my already high caloric needs means my dollar has to go even further. What is a girl to do?

Enter chickpea cookie dough. Chickpeas, if you buy them in bulk and dried, are cheap, and this tasty raw, and vegan treat is at least ½ chickpeas. Yes, I was suspicious at first, but it only took one batch to make me a believer. That’s why I’ve dedicated one whole post to this delicious, nutritious, portable, raw, and vegan snack.

Chickpea cookie dough is essentially hummus, sweetener, vanilla and nut butter. With those guidelines in place, you can essentially add whatever extra cookie spices and chocolate and nuts you want. The classic involves chocolate chips, and a high peanut butter to chickpea ratio.

However, branching out, there is also snickerdoodle chickpea cookie dough dip, chickpea cookie dough fudge, and cinnamon chickpea truffles. I really want to try the cinnamon chickpea truffles. Maybe that will be next week! Things to do with this dough can be making it thinner, and into a dip for apples, pretzels, or a spread for sandwiches. (PB and cookie dough sandwiches anyone????) You can make the batter thicker, by adding the flour of your choice and making cookies. With the basic chocolate chip chickpea cookie dough recipe, I excluded the chocolate chips, and added a little coconut flour to make these peanut butter no bake protein cookies!

Did I mention chickpeas are full of protein, which is great for muscles????

The only downside to all of this, is that you really do need an excellent blender. If your blender is weak sauce, you can get by a little bit by adding more liquid to the batter, and then once blended, mix in flour until the dough is the right consistency. Thus, this works, but kind of ruins the mainly chickpea protein power aspect. I would highly suggest just upgrading to a new blender. If you’re a girl or boy on a budget, you WILL NOT regret it.

This week in updates: Busy

I feel like I’ve barely been home all week. I am pretty tired, sore, and my fridge was very empty until a flurry of baking today. You know I’ve been busy if this blog is being posted on a Monday night! I spent some time doing a good deed though, and made a bomb recipe of my pueblo corn pie and collard greens for a family in need. That’s why my grocery bill is a bit high. Looks pretty amazing if I say so myself. After a quick friend meeting tonight over peaches baked in brandy with vegan ice cream, I am looking forward to finally getting a full night’s sleep. And oh yeah, I also made my own flour this week. No big deal. My first recipe? Vegan rye pancakes with cocoa nibs. They were pretty good, but need a little more tweaking…

The Recipe: Cheap Chickpea Cookie Dough

This is a take on the classic recipe, but with a higher chickpea to peanut butter ratio, sugar (not maple syrup) and cocoa nibs. The higher ratio of chickpeas is a slight loss to flavor, but a big gain in monetary savings. The cocoa nibs are not only healthier than chocolate chips, but they pack all of the flavor with half the cost! Don’t let a high price per pound on these fool you, as they are super light. I got almost 1 1/3 cups for $2.75, and you only need 1/3 cup for this recipe. The chickpeas cost me $2, the sugar $0.25, 1/3 cup cacao nibs about $0.75, the peanut butter $2.50, and the vanilla $0.25. That’s $5.75 for 3 cups of chickpea cookie dough, which will set me up with snacks for the whole week!

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas

½ cup peanut butter

3 tsp vanilla

¼ cup sugar

½ cup cocoa nibs

Instructions

Add all ingredients except for the coaco nibs into the blender. Blend. If this is too much for your blender, add a little non dairy milk. Once the batter is smooth, add the cocoa nibs and enjoy!